I'm Glad you're all having so much fun with this...photo update

Denise and Lisa, donated to Gracelynn and  their requests have been granted!

What's going on??

Find out here

And the Game continues with the younger years...

Jenn wanted young Steph.

A$5 donation to Gracelynn gets you in on the fun! You say post it and I will! Any picture of me from any time. Even the awkward years... and there were many!

Easy fun!

Donate
Tell me
Request photo
Wait for it to be posted

Thanks all!!

Another Photo... CRAZY!

Jenny requested to see the Atlantic plunge from last year. She made a donation to Gracelynn so she gets what she wants .

 

Wanna play?? Make a $5 or more donation to Gracelynn and you get to request a picture of me.

The First Photo is Up!

My friend Shannon made a donation to Gracelynn's Angel Tree grant, and she gets to pick the first picture of me!  If you don't know what I'm talking about, you can catch up here.She chose the fat and pregnant era! Pregnant with Emilia. So as I am true to my word and promised to post here and on FB... Voila!

My friend Jenn also made a donation and picked a picture from my younger years. Gracelynn's age which is 10. I have to dig for that one but it will be posted ASAP! 


Keep playing , this is fun!! Not the picture part( for me) but seeing Gracelynn's account grow!

If a picture is truly worth a thousand words, could it possibly be worth $5 too?

I feel like I'm the Shadow Blogger and the Phantom FB Friend. I never post pictures of myself. I cannot stand being photographed. I have hated it since I was a little girl. I still cringe when someone other than myself has a camera in their hands. If you point it my way I seriously can feel my heartbeat increase to a  abnormally high  rate. In a nutshell I'm a nutcase!

That being said, and out of the way, I'll move on to my next bright idea.

I'm a  Christmas Warrior for Gracelynn this year. My goal is to raise $1000.00 to add tor her adoption grant and of course find her a family!!!

Warriors have come up with a ton of interesting ways to raise money. Over the years I've seen Auctions and giveaways, challenges of all types. I've seen warriors shave their heads, their eyebrows and other peoples heads! I've seen them take a pie in the face and come out smiling. There have been dinners and bake sales, craft sales and Etsy shops galore. Heck I even jumped into the Atlantic Ocean last December. 

There's not much we won't do to raise the money. We are a determined and slightly crazy bunch of head over heels in love with our orphans woman.

Which leads me to my idea. If a picture is worth a thousand words, could it possibly be worth $5 too??

Would you donate $5 to Gracelynn's Angel Tree fund to see a picture of me? 

BUT WAIT!

Not just a random picture, but one that you get to choose?

A baby picture? Those awkward years? My dazzling 20's, a wedding picture. Early motherhood photo? A really fat pregnant photo?  The what were you  thinking when you cut your hair photo? 

If enough people get in on this "fun" you literally could see me from birth to present!  

And honestly if I'm willing to swallow a piece, a whole humble pie for my Gracelynn and your entertainment, you'd be crazy to pass it up.

And it's a win win situation!! 

You get to see me, and get to know me better, and Gracelynn gets her account growing and hopefully a family for Christmas! She will be 11 years old this December. Eleven years of waiting is way too long, and I'm willing to put myself in this most uncomfortable position to get her goal met and get her home! 

ARE YOU IN????

LET THE GAMES BEGIN??

ANY $5 OR MORE DONATION HERE, AND YOU PICK THE TIME RANGE AND I'LL POST THE PICTURE. HERE AND ON FB SO NO ONE MISSES OUT! 

IF YOU DONATE JUST COMMENT HERE OR PM ME ON FB. REMEMBER TO LET ME KNOW WHAT ERA  YOU WANT TO SEE. 

IF NO ONE RESPONDS I WILL STAY THE PHANTOM FB FRIEND AND SHADOW BLOGGER FOREVER!

BELIEVE ME THIS IS YOUR ONLY CHANCE!

AND REMEMBER , IT'S ALL FOR HER.

 

A Moment for Mindy

Mindy is just beautiful to look at isn't she? She pulls you in with a soft kindness, and that smile just makes you smile back.



But there is a sadness around this beautiful child. Mindy is an orphan and needs a family to step forward before her birthday , which is in early December. Once she ages out it will be too late for her to be adopted.

Here is her bio from Reece's Rainbow

Girl, born December 1999
PRC
Cerebral Palsy

Mindy needs a family to be in country and adopt her PRIOR to her birthday in DECEMBER 2013!

Mindy is a beautiful 13 year old girl with an incredible spirit! She was abandoned at age 6, but in spite of that, she has an optimistic and thankful heart. She likes to sing and hum throughout her day, she is honest and accepts correction well. She has good judgment, has a great thirst for knowledge, good understanding and excellent study habits. She attends school in the orphanage. She is talkative and friendly, and a good communicator. She has moderate cerebral palsy and requires a wheelchair to get around, but her speech is clear and she is working hard on her English.

Here you can see video of her, where she says, “Hello everyone, my name is Mindy. I hope I will have a family, have daddy, mother, brothers and sisters. I am a girl who has a ready smile.”


Can you imagine being 13 years old and know your time is almost up? Can you imagine the feeling of dread? And the fear of never having a family of your own? Please if you are reading this , take the one second it takes to share this post! Share it on FB or blog or tell someone about Mindy. Stop and say a prayer, but please do something! This child;s life is on the line! A few short weeks, that's all she has for a huge miracle! CAN YOU AND WILL YOU HELP??









Whatever you do , it is more than doing nothing. And she deserves at least our effort to help her. What if you are the one who posts, and because of that her family is found. You never know the way God is going, or who He will use or when or how. Please let us all do our part for Mindy, who wants nothing but the love of a family! 


For more information on Mindy please contact Reece's Rainbow

Once a Warrior Always A Warrior. Advocating For Orphans, Reeces Rainbow Angel Tree, and Why I Can't Give Up!

As I sit here, my stomach is literally in knots and a lump in forming in my throat, tears are distorting the letters as I try to type.  Why? 

Grab a coffee and I'll fill you in.

My heart belongs to the orphan. I advocate for orphans with special needs in Eastern European countries. The most lost little souls on the planet. The ones hidden away in secluded out of the way orphanages and who spend their days in"laying down rooms".   Those are rooms where just as the title suggests, is what happens. The children lay in their cribs. All day, all night..   
Eventually they age out, usually at about four years old and are transferred to adult mental institutions where the atrocities that take place are too much for me to write. For most this is their road to the grave, and a place where hope is dead.

My Carina, who was listed on Reece's Rainbow, and who has a piece of my heart, is most likely in a place like this.  She is five and half years old. She is in Russia and I have no way of helping her anymore. Russia is now closed to international adoption. For the past two years, while I was advocating for her, I promised to find her a home. I swore I would find her forever family. I raised over 6.000 for her adoption grant. I had auctions, and giveaways, I involved our school and they rallied and raised almost 1000.00 in two years for her. I went to craft fairs and did a lot of begging, pleading and praying. But still with all that effort, I failed. I couldn't get her out in time. 

I was so sure that she would go home. I am tortured by the fact that she is stuck in hell. And am torn on how to pray for her. If she is suffering as I have seen some children from her country suffer, and ultimately die, than I pray that God is merciful and carries her to heaven. My heart  has already grieved for her as if she were dead. But worse would be to know that this could be happening to her too.

This is Kyle. He is in heaven now. He was a Russian orphan , just like Carina. I could not live with myself if this happens to her too. 

 Right about now you may be wondering how on earth I can feel this strongly about an orphan a world away. An orphan that I've only seen in a photograph. Well, I don't know either exactly, except that when God lays something or in this case someone on your heart it has that affect. I love her with a mothers heart. And odd as this may sound, I feel a spiritual connection to her. No one wanted her. So without all the paper work and legal fees and dossiers and documents and red tape, I am her mother, by  a spiritual adoption. Whose going to tell me , no??

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Every year Reece's Rainbow has their biggest and best and most exciting fund raiser! It's called Angel Tree. Each orphan has his or her own Warrior. The goal for the warrior is to raise $1000.00 between November 1st and Dec 31st.  Also to advocate and get that orphan seen as much as possible , because the ultimate goal is a forever family. MANY children are adopted during Angel Tree!!! For the past two years I was Carina's Warrior. Due to the adoption ban there are no orphans from Russia listed anymore. I am without my Carina this year.

Now, I'm getting to the stomach and lump in my throat part. If your still with me, thank you!

I'm afraid to advocate. I'm afraid to fail another child.

I refused for a long time after the ban (last December 26th) to go to Reece's Rainbow and look at the children. I felt like I was abandoning Carina if I thought about advocating for a child from another country. And honestly my heart was just not in it. I was paralyzed by the "what ifs". What if I lost this child like Carina, "What if" I fail again. "What if " I don't raise any money. "What ifs" are evil. They fill you with doubt and fear, they enable you to believe only the worst and lose sight of all the good.

Putting aside all the "what ifs " I have been carrying around has been overwhelmingly difficult.


We are a tight community of warriors and we were all knocked over by the ban. Some, God bless them were able to move on and claim another Sweet child to advocate for, more quickly than others. I wish I was like them. Eventually though, I did go "looking" and my heart was captured by this Pixie.

   This is Gracelynn. And she just makes me smile. 

Girl, born December 2002

Down syndrome

Well, doesn’t this little pixie look like a spit fire?   Those deep brown eyes are gorgeous!
Large families welcome, travel required.  Married couples only.  Gracelynn could be adopted with Rania, Kinley, and/or Emmalyn.


I'm still a little shaky, and scared but I'm holding the "what ifs " at bay. Part of Carina's adoption grant money has been given to Gracelynn, so she already has 5000.00 toward her adoption cost. My goal is to raise another $1000.00 by Dec 31st. And find her a family. NOT NECESSARILY IN THAT ORDER!

A family for Christmas would be a miracle for Gracelynn and the best birthday present EVER! She is a December baby!

Donations are now being accepted here. Just scroll down until you see Gracelynn . And with any $35 or more donation Reece's Rainbow will send you an ornament with Gracelynn's beautiful photo on it.

With all my fears and doubts, I still cannot stop advocating. Lord knows I want to. The pain is debilitating at times. But once a Warrior always a Warrior. These children need a voice. Mine was once loud and bold. I yelled for these children who are silent and forgotten. I was knocked down , but not taken out of the game completely. I'm getting up for Gracelynn. She needs me. And Sweet Carina will always have me as her mama so far away but always so in love with her.

Please join me this year. Please support Gracelynn and maybe even some of the other orphans and warriors raising funds and trying to find families. The immense joy of celebrating when a child gets a family mends the pain. This Christmas take a leap of faith. Listen to your heart, God may be whispering to you. To advocate, pray or possibly even to adopt.   

God Bless and please keep me in your prayers, that I make my goal of $1000.00 for Gracelynn.